the unofficial Cape Epic thread

[Dappere]

3 hours ago, samson99 said:

any idea what the volunteers paid this year to be there?

First-time volunteers pay R3,800, and return volunteers pay R1,000—or at least, that’s the fee I heard.

[samson99]

3 minutes ago, Dappere said:

First-time volunteers pay R3,800, and return volunteers pay R1,000—or at least, that’s the fee I heard.

interesting. i see that some volunteers have now started selling their entries for R17k 

Edited March 31, 2025 by samson99

[Dappere]

3 minutes ago, samson99 said:

interesting. i see that some volunteers have now started selling their entries for R17k 

This happens every year. Shortly after registration opens, a few volunteers start selling their entries. Then, towards the end of the year and into the beginning of the next, there’s typically another noticeable increase in entries being sold on the Hub.

[ikerarri]

Registration for Cape Epic 2026 is open. 
54 minutes later, 154 registered teams appear on screen...

Myself? Not 2026. Maybe 2027. 

[shambler]

Well, seems like the pricing sweet spot has been hit. After 2 hours you can still easily register, quite different as last few years.  It will get full eventually, but this should be a sign to the organisers...

You're more less charging the same price per day as a Swiss Epic. But seriously: sleeping in a tent or sleeping in a hotel in one of the most expensive countries in the world is a different thing.

Edited March 31, 2025 by shambler

[DieselnDust]

1 hour ago, ikerarri said:

Registration for Cape Epic 2026 is open. 
54 minutes later, 154 registered teams appear on screen...

Myself? Not 2026. Maybe 2027. 

184 at the moment. With this kind of obsessive popularity there is no need to change anything.

Just keep printing entries

[DieselnDust]

6 minutes ago, shambler said:

Well, seems like the pricing sweet spot has been hit. After 2 hours you can still easily register, quite different as last few years.  It will get full eventually, but this should be a sign to the organisers...

You're more less charging the same price per day as a Swiss Epic. But seriously: sleeping in a tent or sleeping in a hotel in one of the most expensive countries in the world is a different thing.

Early bird used to be capped at 100 teams. 184 have registered at this time. These are teams that have opted to pay in full or are on the payment plan. They will probably keep entries open till midnight? before switching over to the lottery

[Lynskey]

2 minutes ago, DieselnDust said:

Early bird used to be capped at 100 teams. 184 have registered at this time. These are teams that have opted to pay in full or are on the payment plan. They will probably keep entries open till midnight? before switching over to the lottery

🤣🤣  they also said capped at 600 teams. In 2010 I saw boards into the late 600's. It wouldn't be the first time it seems they have crossed wires!

[ALDiRTY]

Please forgive the long post, didn't realise it would turn into a whole essay 🙃

Newbie’s experience of 1st CE:

Let me start by giving a brief overview of how I prepared for this event:
The opportunity came along in October 2024, when a gentleman posted in our local cycling group that his partner pulled out. I jumped at the opportunity as it has been a life-long dream for me to take part. At this stage I already had a good base fitness and solid technical skills as I’ve been riding for a few years, the last year or so up to that point, being the most focused and longest consistent riding/training I’ve ever done. I didn’t want to go and “survive” the Epic, I wanted to go ride it, and enjoy it without killing myself. My philosophy training towards Epic was “I’ll rather cry in training than bleed in Epic” so wanted to be as prepared as possible physically and mentally.

As much as it is an MTB event, it’s equally an endurance event so I had a big focus on my base fitness, especially during December and a bit of Jan. Typically doing weeks of about 16 to 18 hours in December - long Zone 2 Gravel or Road rides. As Epic would mostly be 5/6 hour days, I wanted to make sure I could ride for that long, focusing on pacing, and nutrition. You have to race how you train - train your RPE, train your gut, and your mind, that, at 4 hours plus you’re not just in survival mode. It is for this reason that at the end of longer endurance rides, I would add short higher intensity efforts so my body can get accustomed to still pedalling hard at the end of the ride and train durability. It’s not fun kakking off at the end of the ride and just being on the back foot. I believe this helped my resilience a great deal, and I feel there’s generally not enough focus on that. Many of the stages end on some nasty climbs so always good to have that extra kick when you need it.

I had a big focus on managing recovery and fatigue. I think it’s very easy to only focus on getting in the training hours, but not prioritising rest and recovery to the same extent. Cumulatively with work, home responsibilities and training (on and off the bike) it’s easy to overlook such an integral aspect. It’s hard not to tick every single box every single day, and easy beat oneself up or feel like you let yourself down if you didn’t achieve what you wanted. Once or twice every now and again won’t make a difference, it’s more the trend of consistency over the months, and dare I say years, that stand you in good steed for an event of this kind.

It’s not only about the legs! I know, this is not exactly news, but so many cyclists I know don’t do anything besides ride their bikes. Core, back, hip flexors, upper body and general mobility are so integral for cycling, especially mountain biking. I love mountain biking because of how engaging and a full-body workout it is. Some of the Epic descents were fast, bumpy, and heavy on the wrists, arms, shoulders, neck etc. If you don’t have basic strength to support your upper body it makes it so much more likely that you’ll fall and injure yourself, especially later 4,5,6 plus hours in the saddle where general fatigue sets in and your focus goes out the window.
Now, I haven’t been to a gym in probably 15 years, as I just don’t like the vibe and environment. Having hurt my back skateboarding when I was a teenager (shifted L5, pinched nerves etc), it was kind of a blessing in disguise as I really ended up developing a strong core, flexibility, and stability. I really couldn’t deal with the debilitating pain anymore, and didn’t want an operation, so the only other option was strength building exercises and stretching which really healed my back, and later in life took my cycling to the next level. Again, it is about incorporating these exercises into your training week without it affecting your cycling negatively and managing the total fatigue. I would keep it to basic body weight exercises and calisthenics such as pull-ups, push-ups, dumbbell exercises, exercises on gym ball, that kind of thing. Maybe 2 or 3 times a week, short sessions of 15-20min that just pretty much activate the muscles, at least 6 to 8 hours gap from a cycle (if I am riding the same day, but not often).

I would typically structure my week like this:
Monday: Always off
Tuesday: 1.5-2 hour easy ride
Wednesday: 2 hours, with intervals/threshold/higher intensity in the middle
Thursday: 1 Hour easy fasted ride OR if I’m racing on the weekend (Saturday) take off.
Friday: Easy 2 hour coffee ride
Saturday: Easy Road or Gravel ride of 5,6,7 Hours
Sunday: Easy 3 or 4 hour

It wasn’t exactly like this every week, I just kind of worked within this framework. One intensity session, 2 longer endurance rides, and the rest just kind of fun or not too serious. Rides were also mostly MTB (as I only own an MTB haha), except for the Saturday rides which were often on tar or gravel in a group.

Efficiency is another often overlooked aspect of cycling, especially MTB. Yes, on a one or two hour ride it doesn’t make that much of a difference, but over a long endurance ride, and even more so over 8 days of hard, long hours in the saddle, it adds up. The little things are the big things. Pedal efficiency and cadence is so underestimated. I can’t tell you how many times I rode next to guys who, at the beginning of a lengthy climb, go up a few gears, get out the saddle, pedal hard and spike heart rate. 10 seconds later they’re seated and out of breath. You do this multiple times over a 6 hour ride, and you’ve spent so much more energy then you’ve really needed to. Then I just spin by, keeping my heart rate low and thus conserving more energy. Efficiency also extends to navigating technical sections smoothly, allowing the bike to move underneath you, managing your weight transfer, choosing a good/straight/smooth line, focusing on exit speed out of corners and carrying momentum so you don’t have to burn a match trying to get back on the pedals again.

Ultimately one has to find what works for the individual, and as mentioned in another post, there is no “one-size-fits-all” solution here. Above all, the training plan needs to be sustainable and doable over a long period of time through consistency as I think that is the most important part of improving and building fitness. Progressive overload with a rest week in the mix (every 4th week or so) is also key here to avoid plateauing.

I don’t have a coach, never had one, just did my own research and applied through discipline and consistency to see what works and not. There are just some simple truths that apply to cycling that one (at least in my opinion) won’t need a coach for. Up to a certain point that is obviously. Once I’ve recovered financially from Epic (haha!) later in the year, iI’ll look at getting a coach to optimise my riding and take it a bit further. There’s always room for improvement!

I’ve done a handful of stage races like Tankwa, W2W, etc. so not completely new to the vibe.

Onto the actual Cape Epic 2025 experience:

Firstly, it broke the bank, haha! Truthfully I couldn’t really afford it, but I was not going to pass on an opportunity to make one of my biggest dreams come true, YOLO right?! Fortunately I could work out a payment plan so that really helped as I would not have been able to fork out such a chunk of change at once. In general MTB’ing is outside of my tax bracket, but it gives me life and I can’t imagine life without it so ya… there are more destructive things to be addicted to I guess. I have to remind myself, though, that I’m not exactly the target market ( A musician and music teacher, haha!). Their catch phrase “The untamed AFRICAN mountain bike race” (or something to that effect) clearly shows that it’s directed at foreigners with Euros and Dollars, so even though it’s not necessarily ‘cheap’ for them, they are the ones who have no problem forking out that R35 on a soft drink.

For the price tag I truthfully (naively?) expected a 5 Star experience on every level. I love camping and don’t mind roughing it out so I was quite happy with the tent setup. Only thing was that when you want to recover in your tent post hot day out, the tent (when the days were hot) is like an oven as they’re parked in direct sun. As one would expect with a lot of ‘traffic’, the toilets/porta loo’s were less than ideal, and the showers left much to be desired. I can’t tell you what exactly the solution would have been. Often the ablution facilities were without running water to wash your hands, and a stench from the toilets that would just hang around that you could smell from your tent as the campsite was near it. The food was good, not great, but good. It was sufficient. I am fortunate that my folks stay in Somerset West, so after 3 days at Camp, I decided to rather go sleep in a lekker big, warm bed, eat some home cooked food, enjoy a clean toilet and shower. Really grateful I had the option to, otherwise I think the event could have been a bit harder. Ultimately, this kind of event, as much as it is a challenge, is also a recovery game. So, you’re either riding, eating, or resting/sleeping.

I do have to say though, the riding was absolutely sublime. Right up my alley - mostly single track, beautiful scenery, tough climbing, technical parts; PROPER mountain biking. Route was clearly marked, water points were well-stocked (at least when we passed), and the vibe and support along the route (‘gees’ if you will) was very lekker and encouraging.

We were riding in batch D, so despite the odd bit of traffic in some technical sections, flowed pretty well for the most part. I don’t think the same could be said for people a bit further back. I heard that there was A LOT of waiting around, walking in sections that otherwise could have been ridden. It’s just unfortunate as the consequence then is, a person who would have been out for let’s say 6h30 hours, now is out for 8 hours, or more, compounded by elements such as heat, is not a good time. That extra time takes away some of your (critical) recovery time, and thus making the next day harder than it needs to be. After a few days of this, the knock-on/ripple effect is real and tangible.

Would I do it again? If I got a sponsored entry, Heck Yes! But it is a huge financial commitment for someone like me, and even though physically and mentally strong enough, and thoroughly enjoyed it, from a financial perspective, it is hard to justify. The expenses add up - travel, possible accommodation, bike parts, and redoing your bike top to bottom again (the mud did a number on my bike lol) after the fact is a lot. But I am truthfully grateful to be able to tick it off my bucket list, and to have made it through without any injuries/serious falls, or major mechanicals. I also can’t believe I got to meet my all-time hero, Nino Schurter, and grab a quick pic with him. He’s been an inspiration to me for the longest time as I do a lot of his exercises (check Youtube), and would most likely not have had the opportunity to anywhere else. From this experience, I can definitely say I came out a much better athlete and mountain biker, I will forever cherish these memories. As always, just #anotherkakdayinafrica - good times!

[PhilipV]

On 3/29/2025 at 11:48 AM, DieselnDust said:

I think it’s a valid question. 
the issue revolves around cognitive impairment.

when people get dehydrated their reasoning starts to be affected. You can halucinate, become aggressive (emotional instability) or simply just start to behave out of character. If it’s happening to you, very few have the capacity to recognise what is going on. You think oh “I have a headache “ or “wow what that’s this beautiful lady doing all the way up here ?”

that is when an outsider needs to step in and take control of the situation. In this case your team mate. However if they are also impaired then it’s a double edged sword and at this point someone who is fully functional needs to step in. 
considering the terrain and that many others were in various states of dehydration already I would have to look at the higher authority in the day monitoring distress calls to ascertain what is going on. 
as you say with hindsight there’s a lot more that could have been done to monitor conditions and make a safer determination of continuing or stopping the race.

the key issue here is that none ir very few of the riders on pipeline and Boulder City after noon were going to have the capacity to make good decisions in that heat.

overlay the cost of the event and therefore the cost of failure and it’s not as black and white as it seems when sitting at home or in the office watching from a distance.

Honest opinion: I’m glad your partner pulled out when he did. Kudos to you for not pressuring him to go on. 

On 3/30/2025 at 5:58 PM, MORNE said:

Huh? What? The only thing holding me back from sending all the lines at the moment is a totally useless/unstable shoulder🤣🤣. Docter told me 12 months….ive already gone down some blacks to try it out👀 (Luckily they dont know my strava handle)  

But in my current mildly disabled state I go down blue trails, hit the brakes hard and feel like i want to go over the bars because there is almost nothing to push against😅 

look at this mess:

May I suggest Hyrox or F45 (aka CrossFit lite) rather. 
hat, coat, DOOR!

[Ozzie NL]

15 hours ago, shambler said:

Well, seems like the pricing sweet spot has been hit. After 2 hours you can still easily register, quite different as last few years.  It will get full eventually, but this should be a sign to the organisers...

You're more less charging the same price per day as a Swiss Epic. But seriously: sleeping in a tent or sleeping in a hotel in one of the most expensive countries in the world is a different thing.

Think the issue is rather that Epic decided to only accept card payments this year whereas previously EFTs were also an option ... suspect many peeps did not bump up their card limits to complete the transaction.

[DieselnDust]

3 hours ago, Ozzie NL said:

Think the issue is rather that Epic decided to only accept card payments this year whereas previously EFTs were also an option ... suspect many peeps did not bump up their card limits to complete the transaction.

I seriously doubt this is the issue. There's no way of knowing who paid in full and who took payment options I would suspect the riders without a confirmed partner opted for payment plan to ensure they have the slot and then the prospective partner pays the other 50% directly. This eases cash flow and spreads the entrants risk.

Also as mentioned previously, Early Bird used to be capped at 100 so there was no way the public would know whether 101 entries were received or  1 million, but with 999900  unsuccessful. As of yesterday evening there were 184 entries. Did the event cap the entries there or is that all that  were eager enough to secure early? Impossible to know if you can't see the back end of the entry system which would be everyone sitting here speculating.

What we can safely say is that demand is likely waning inline with disposable income domestic and abroad.

[Ozzie NL]

11 minutes ago, DieselnDust said:

I seriously doubt this is the issue. There's no way of knowing who paid in full and who took payment options I would suspect the riders without a confirmed partner opted for payment plan to ensure they have the slot and then the prospective partner pays the other 50% directly. This eases cash flow and spreads the entrants risk.

Also as mentioned previously, Early Bird used to be capped at 100 so there was no way the public would know whether 101 entries were received or  1 million, but with 999900  unsuccessful. As of yesterday evening there were 184 entries. Did the event cap the entries there or is that all that  were eager enough to secure early? Impossible to know if you can't see the back end of the entry system which would be everyone sitting here speculating.

What we can safely say is that demand is likely waning inline with disposable income domestic and abroad.

The two of us should start a think tank as we permanently have opposing views on matters ... imagine how right we could be if we debate these and develop a common view

[ChrisF]

1 hour ago, Ozzie NL said:

The two of us should start a think tank as we permanently have opposing views on matters ... imagine how right we could be if we debate these and develop a common view

 

Between the two of you, the rest of us get a nice wholistic picture ... keep it up 

[DieselnDust]

The truth is always in the middle

[Lynskey]

5 hours ago, DieselnDust said:

The truth is always in the middle

Opinions and experiences are personal. So to each their own. I can relate to stuff you experience and then some I don't. To have many angles to view an experience is best. I would never call anyone out who has done it but highly doubt I would copy their sentiments to the T. Your effort to describe your journey is very much welcomed and enjoyed by myself.